


Speech

by Bluefire123



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Anxiety, Comfort, Help, M/M, Nervousness, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:40:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21561598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluefire123/pseuds/Bluefire123
Summary: Yugi has to do a speech for class and he's very nervous about it. What will Yami do to help him?
Relationships: Mutou Yuugi/Yami Yuugi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	Speech

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for a while now and I'm glad to finally share it. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

It’s a cool, Thursday evening.

Yugi Mutou is sitting at the desk in his bedroom writing on some notecards. After coming home from school and helping his grandpa in the shop, he decided to use the rest of the evening to prepare for his speech tomorrow.

With that thought, he stops writing and puts both hands over his face, letting out a long sigh. He can feel his heart racing faster from just _thinking_ about the word ‘speech’.

He’s giving a speech tomorrow on a book he read for class, and it’s worth 20% of his overall grade. He thoroughly enjoyed the book and told his friends about it, but this time is different.

Yugi _hates_ public speaking. Standing in front of a large group, all eyes on you, and being the only person speaking is nerve-wracking! And even though he’s done some throughout the years in school, this is something he still struggles with.

He’d rather write a 100-page essay on the history of math.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a choice. This speech must be done or else his grade will suffer. With that in mind, he picks up his pencil and resumes writing on the notecards.

The Millennium Puzzle on the bedside table glows, and Yami appears transparent next to it. He walks over to the young duelist and stands next to him, looking down on the desk.

“What are you doing, Aibou?” Yami asks curiously.

Yugi looks up from his notecard and smiles at his darker half. “Hey Yami. I’m just making my notecards for tomorrow.”

Yami looks at him and raises an inquisitive eyebrow. “What’s happening tomorrow?”

Yugi sighs, smile falling from his face. “I’m giving a speech.”

So _that’s_ what it is. Yami felt nervousness and anxiety from Yugi’s end of the mind link, and he was about to inquire about it until he heard the word ‘speech’. He’s familiar with the younger one’s fear of public speaking.

“What is your speech about?”

“It’s about this book I read for class. We each had to choose a book to read and when we’re finished, we do a speech over it. We have to give a summary and talk about our thoughts, why we like or dislike the book, and anything we possibly learned from it.”

Yami gave a reassuring smile. “Well, that doesn’t sound so bad, Aibou.”

“I _wish._ This is the final speech of the semester and it counts for 20% of my grade. And, it _has_ to be 6 to 8 minutes long!”

Yugi groaned in frustration. “That’s a long time for just talking about a book. Why can’t it be shorter? It could go like: ‘Hi, I’m Yugi Mutou. I read _Finding My Way_ , and it’s about a girl trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. I thought this was a great story. I really like it! And I learned that no matter what life throws at you, it’s important to always work towards your goals and never give up. Thank you.’ What’s wrong with that?”

When he knew Yugi was finished with his little rant, Yami spoke. “Well, I still think this speech doesn’t sound so bad. Besides, it’s not like you’re reading the entire book to them.”

“I’d rather stare at a book than an audience.” Yugi replied. Then, he leaned his head down on the desk and sighed. “I hate public speaking…”

Yami placed a hand on Yugi’s shoulder in comfort. He hated seeing his light stressing out like this. He thinks about what he can do to help. And then, he had an idea.

“How about you practice on me?”

Yugi looked up at him, confused. “What?”

Yami smiled. “Practice your speech on me. I’ll pretend to be a fellow classmate watching you do your presentation.”

Well, it’s definitely worth a try.

“Okay.” Yugi agreed.

With that said, Yami walked over to Yugi’s bed and sat down, folding his arms and crossing his legs. Yugi picked up his notecards and walked over to stand in front of the spirit.

Yami smiled reassuringly, patiently waiting for his Aibou to begin.

Yugi smiled back nervously, tightly gripping the notecards in his trembling hand. Clearing his throat, he began.

“Good m-morning, everyone! My name is Yugi Mutou, and today I’m going to tab…sorry. _Talk_ about the book I-I read.”

Yami nodded his head, signaling for him to continue.

Yugi continued, glancing at his notecards from time to time. “The book I read was _Finding My Way_ , and it’s about…”

As he continued with the speech, he kept stuttering through his words and fidgeting his notecards. Yami often encouraged him saying things like “You can go it, Yugi.” and “It’s alright.”

But eventually, Yugi’s anxiety got the better of him. He sighed. “I…I’m going to stop now, Yami.”

Yami shook his head. “Aibou, you have to keep going. We can practice all evening if you need to. Contrary to what you may think, you _can_ do this.”

“No Yami, I want to stop. I appreciate you trying to help, but I just…don’t feel comfortable continuing right now.”

After a moment, Yami just nodded. He really wanted Yugi to continue, but if his light wasn’t comfortable with doing so, then he wasn’t going to try and force him.

After a few hours later, Yugi finally finished writing his notecards. He stretched and let out a yawn, then looked over at the clock to see 11:34 p.m.

“Time for bed.” He said tiredly. He went to the bathroom and got ready for bed. When he made it back to his room, he saw Yami sitting on his bed once again.

“Yami, I don’t want to practice anymore.” He groaned.

Yami chuckled. “No Yugi, that’s not what I was going to say.”

“Oh…” Yugi yawned and walked over to his bed. He got underneath the blankets and made himself comfortable.

Yami looked down at him. “You’ll do great on your speech. I know you will.”

“Thanks.” Yugi replied. Well, at least one of them is confident about tomorrow.

“And, I’ll be there front and center.”

Of course. He’ll be watching everything from the Millennium Puzzle, encouraging him along the way. And even though Yugi is still nervous about this ordeal tomorrow, knowing that his darker half will be there for him calmed his nerves a little.

“Thanks, Mou Hitori No Boku.” Yugi said, and closed his eyes with a smile.

“You’re welcome. Pleasant dreams, Aibou.”

* * *

The next day, Yugi woke up feeling refreshed. He opened his eyes and saw the sun shining brightly outside. Sitting up in bed, he was already looking forward to the day until he remembered his speech.

Immediately, his nerves went haywire and his hands began to tremble. He sat in bed for a few more minutes trying to calm himself down.

With a sigh, he got out of bed and started getting ready for school. He just wanted to get this day over with.

Later, he arrived at school and walked into his classroom seeing Jonouchi, Anzu, and Honda crowded around his desk talking. He smiled and made his way over.

“Hey guys!”

Jonouchi looked up and smiled. “Hey, Yug’! Are you ready for ya speech today?”

“Kind of…” He replied uneasily. He set his backpack down and sat in his chair.

Anzu smiled. “Yugi, I know you’re nervous about your speech. But, you’ll do fine! As soon as you finished your book, you were so excited when you told me everything about it.” She said, trying to cheer him up.

Yugi bent down and searched for the notecards in his backpack. “But Anzu, I was only talking to you. This time, I have to talk about it to everybody…”

“Well knowin’ you, you’re going to do great!” Jonouchi said confidently.

“Yeah!” Honda said. “Besides, Mrs. Granger might go easy on you since you’re one of her _golden_ students.” He lightly teased.

Jonouchi folded his arms and grumbled. “I _wish_ she would’a been that way with me! She took 5 points off my score because I ‘laughed too much’ during my speech. Can you guys believe dat?!”

“Jonouchi, you laughed about a stupid joke from your book for like a minute.” Anzu said.

“Hey! It was really funny, and anybody with a sense of humor will agree with me!”

Honda laughed. “Yeah dude, I’m right there with you! I thought it was very funny!”

They both high-fived each other while Anzu just sighed. Yugi smiled and pulled out the notecards from his backpack. He set them on his desk, patiently waiting for class to begin. He used this time to briefly run through his speech in his head.

A few minutes later, a woman walked into the classroom and stopped at the front desk. She set her bag down, then turned to face the class with a smile.

_Rrriiinnnggg!_

“Alright students, that’s the bell! Class is now in session.” She said with a cheery voice.

Everybody ceased their conversations and went to their seats.

Mrs. Granger clasped her hands together. “Good morning, everyone! I hope you’re all wide awake today, for we have another round of speeches to go through!”

The majority of the class groaned while a few claps could be heard around the room. Everybody was tired of speeches at this point and just wanted to be done with them.

“Oh come on, students! I know we’ve spent the last couple of classes only doing speeches, but look on the bright side. Today’s the last day!” She said cheerfully.

The class let out a huge cheer after hearing that.

“That’s the spirit! So, with that said…” She picked up a clipboard and walked to the back of the classroom. She sat down at an empty desk and after getting situated, she looked down at the clipboard. “Yugi Mutou, you’re up first!”

Yugi’s heart immediately started beating faster and his nerves were going haywire again.

“Don’t worry, pal! You’ve got this!” Jonouchi said.

“Yeah, buddy!” Honda said with a thumbs up.

“You can do it!” Anzu said.

Yugi smiled nervously. “Thanks guys.” Then he took a deep breath, picked up his notecards, and walked to the front of the class.

He turned around to face everyone, and froze.

A large group of students were staring at him. Some happy, some bored, and some snickering at how nervous he was.

He said nothing. Instead, he began to tremble.

Suddenly, Yami appeared transparently and sat at his desk. Yugi was confused, but he didn’t let it show on his face.

“Whenever you’re ready, Yugi.” Mrs. Granger said.

“Right.” Yugi said. He cleared his throat, looked at the audience, and began.

“Good morning, everyone. My name is Yugi Mutou, and today I’m going to talk about the book I read.”

As he was speaking through his introduction, he glanced over to see what his darker half was doing.

He was…making faces? _Funny_ faces at that!

Yami pulled on his ears, stuck out his tongue, and crossed his eyes. Yugi thought it was funny and _almost_ laughed. The usually stern, aggressive spirit making silly faces was something he found humorous.

“The book _Finding My Way_ is about a girl trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world…”

Yami continued making funny faces as Yugi spoke through his introduction. Fortunately, Yugi managed to hold back his laughter. He felt a little more relaxed now, but he was still nervous about the predicament he’s in. And when he finished his introduction, that’s when Yami stopped making funny faces.

Yugi flipped his notecards and continued. “I-I thought this story was great! It gave a lot of meaning to the v-value of…”

A few snickers could be heard from some students because of Yugi’s stuttering. He blushed a little in embarrassment, but kept going.

Yami turned his head and glared at the students laughing, angry that people would laugh at an anxious person doing a speech, _especially_ his Aibou. Without a second thought, he stood up and walked over to the three snickering students.

‘Oh no.’ Yugi thought, nervous. ‘Yami? What are you doing? Please don’t-!’

‘Don’t worry, Aibou. Just keep going.’ Yami replied.

Yugi continued speaking and tried to act like nothing bad was about to happen.

When Yami stood in front of the students, he saw they were still snickering. He growled, and thought about how he’d make them pay. He glanced at the cups of coffee on top of their desks, then had an idea.

He extended his arm and shadow magic sprang from his hand to lunge toward the coffee cups. Slowly, the magic pushed the cups closer toward the edge of the desks until…

_Splash!_

The cups crashed down on the floor and spilled everywhere. The three students sat there in shock. Yugi stopped mid-sentence, wide-eyed.

“Hey! My stuff!”

“You got coffee all over my backpack!”

“This is my _new_ pursue you just ruined! You better be ready to buy me a new one!”

Jonouchi pointed at them and laughed. “What a bunch of klutzes!”

Then the whole class burst into laughter.

Yami smirked. That’s what they get for laughing at Yugi.

“Students! Please, settle down! Your classmate is trying to give a speech here!” Mrs. Granger said.

The class began to settle down, still chuckling at the three bewildered students. Yugi let out a breath, relieved. He was thankful for this little break.

“Now, if you three would clean up your mess…” Mrs. Granger said.

The students left the room and came back with paper towels. They started cleaning up the mess, embarrassed.

“Yugi, we’re sorry about that. Please continue.” She said.

Yami turned around and gave him a thumbs up with a smile.

Yugi nodded. “Okay. As I was saying, I like this story because…” He felt more relaxed now. And as he kept speaking to his audience, he felt more comfortable sharing his thoughts with everyone. And eventually, he finished this part of the speech.

‘Well done, Yugi. You’re almost finished.’ Yami sent through their mind link.

Yugi flipped his notecards one last time and continued. “From this story, I learned the importance of perseverance. No matter what life throws at you, it’s important to never give up and work to achieve your goals.”

Yami walked up the front of the classroom and stood next to Yugi. He leaned on the front desk with his arms crossed, watching his lighter half wrap-up his speech. His voice is stable, he’s not trembling anymore, and he’s making direct eye contact with the audience. He was proud of his little one.

“And that concludes my speech! Thank you for your time.” Yugi said with a bow.

The whole class let out a huge round of applause with Jonouchi, Anzu, and Honda cheering the loudest. Yugi looked around the classroom with a smile. He glanced over at Yami to see him clapping as well and give him a wink.

Yugi grinned. He did it!

* * *

Yugi walked into his bedroom, happy and relieved to be finished with his speech. He received great remarks from the teacher, and he’s actually looking forward to seeing his grade for the project.

“I’m finally done!” He said, setting his backpack on the floor. Yami appeared standing next to the bed.

Yugi saw his darker half and smiled. “Thank you for all your help, Yami. If it wasn’t for you, I would’ve been awful the whole time!”

Yami chuckled and shook his head. “No Yugi, I just helped calm your nerves. Even if I didn’t do anything, you still would’ve done fine.”

Yugi walked over and sat on his bed. “Well, you also helped by getting payback on those students that laughed at me.”

Yami crossed his arms. “They deserved it. They shouldn’t have been laughing at you in the first place.” He said firmly.

Yami could be a little overprotective sometimes, and he would do _anything_ to avenge his lighter half. Yugi was truly grateful for him.

“Again, thank you Mou Hitori No Boku. I really appreciate it.” Yugi smiled.

“You’re welcome, Aibou.” Yami replied, smiling warmly.

And with that, Yugi looked forward to his speech-free weekend.

**Author's Note:**

> Yugi doesn't like public speaking. And even though Yami is a spirit, he would still find ways to help him out.
> 
> If you enjoyed this, please leave a kudos and/or comment. They're greatly appreciated!


End file.
